Topic
Date published
30/09/2026
By Dr Katie Robinson, Principal Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham and Theme Co-Lead for Building Resilience in Later Life at ARC East Midlands.
The Action Falls research team hosted the event at Ye Old Bell in Retford on 10 September 2026, sharing best practice from falls research across care homes, community and home care settings.
Showcasing the Action Falls programme
Action Falls is a falls prevention programme for care homes. It gives care home staff a risk checklist, practical guidance and training to help them reduce falls.
The morning session showcased the programme's research. Dr Fran Allen, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham, outlined the evidence behind the programme. This included a randomised controlled trial led by Professor Pip Logan, which found a 43 per cent reduction in falls among care home residents, and a national implementation study funded by the NIHR ARC Wessex.
Paul Thomas, Regional Manager at Allegra Care, explained how he has embedded Action Falls in the care homes he supports, reducing falls and injuries. One home had 122 fewer falls in the first year of the research. He gave practical advice, such as training all staff, including catering and domestic teams, which helped create a positive change in culture.
Dr Katie Robinson introduced ongoing research to adapt and implement Action Falls across home care through the HeRON project, funded by the Vivensa Foundation. Attendees got involved by sharing their views.
Dr Sonali Shah, Associate Professor of Disability and Life Course Research at the University of Nottingham, presented the Fidelio project, which explores falls among adults with cerebral palsy and why a life course approach matters. She shared insights from young and middle-aged adults living and working in the community.
During a lively networking lunch, the Regional Research Delivery Network highlighted opportunities to take part in research through NIHR Be Part of Research.
Top tips for falls prevention
The afternoon began with discussions on how to prevent falls. Delegates heard from a range of facilitators who covered topics including:
- Supporting the inclusion of ethnic minority communities
- Adapting Action Falls for adults with a learning disability
- Managing long lies (when someone stays on the floor for a long time after a fall) and post-fall care in care homes
- Learning from the Lincolnshire falls ambassador programme
- Preventing falls in stroke survivors
Delegates shared their experiences and practical advice. Top tips from the day's discussions included:
- Prioritise education and training
- Take a personalised approach that involves the person and their family
- Communicate well across the health and social care system
Clinical colleagues from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also delivered a practical workshop on falls prevention and shared their own advice.
Stuart Hodgson, Physiotherapist at Ashfield Community Learning Disabilities Team, also gave expert advice on supporting people with a learning disability to manage falls.
Shaping future research
Throughout the day, delegates were encouraged to share their key challenges and top priorities for future research. These included:
- Using technology appropriately to prevent falls
- Supporting joined-up working and collaboration
- Using the neighbourhood health model to bring in all organisations involved in falls management and deliver services differently
Peter Smith, Patient and Public Involvement member of the Action Falls team, chose exploring the factors that improve people's engagement with the falls programme as his top priority. Watch this space for research developments on this topic!
The event demonstrated strong collaboration across academia, health and social care and the voluntary sector, driving research and implementing findings to change practice.
Find out more
To find out more about the Action Falls programme, please visit the Action Falls website.
The Action Falls toolkit is available to download in the ARC Store Resources.
The Action Falls research programme is led by the Centre for Rehabilitation and Ageing Research at the University of Nottingham.
The evaluation of Action Falls in care homes across the East Midlands was funded by the NIHR ARC East Midlands, and its findings contributed to a national implementation study with ARC Greater Manchester, ARC North East and North Cumbria, PenARC and ARC Wessex.